Sainte Etheldrede
Abbesse, fondatrice d'Ely
(+ 679)
Æthelthryth, Audrey ou
Edeltrude.
Le grand nombre d'églises
anglaises qui portaient son nom jadis montre bien combien cette sainte fut
populaire en son pays. Elle vécut à l'époque de l'Heptarchie, c'est-à-dire à
l'époque où l'Angleterre comprenait sept royaumes: Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Kent,
Mercie, Est-Anglie et Northumbrie. Bien qu'Audrey ait désiré garder sa
virginité, son père, Anna, roi d'Est-Anglie, ne l'en fit pas moins contracter
deux mariages politiquement utiles. Par le premier, elle devint la femme d'un
vieillard malade, le prince Tonbert qui mourut au bout de trois ans. Restée
vierge, sainte Audrey pensait entrer en religion, quand on exigea d'elle
qu'elle épousât le prince Egfried, fils du roi de Northumbrie. Ce n'était qu'un
enfant. Quand il fut pubère, il voulut user de ses droits conjugaux, mais la
future reine prit la fuite et se retira dans l'abbaye de Cuningham. Egfrid ne
poursuivit pas son projet pour trouver femme mieux à sa convenance. Audrey put
alors fonder l'abbaye d'Ely, puis en devenir l'abbesse et chanter la louange de
Dieu tout à loisir durant des nuits entières.
(…)
Au monastère d’Ely, en
Grande Bretagne, l’an 679, sainte Éthelrède (Audrey), abbesse. Fille de roi, et
reine de Northumbrie, mariée deux fois, elle reçut des mains de l’évêque saint
Wilfrid le voile des moniales dans le monastère qu’elle avait elle-même fondé,
et où elle dirigea avec l’autorité d’une mère, par ses exemples et ses
avertissements, un grand nombre de vierges.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1373/Sainte-Etheldrede.html
Sainte Édeltrude (ou
Étheldrède), née vers l’an 610, saint Boniface IV étant pape, Héraclius
empereur d’Orient et Clotaire II roi de France, nous donne une preuve de la
possibilité de la sainteté au milieu des grandeurs du monde et dans l’état du
mariage.
Fille d’un roi anglais,
elle eut trois sœurs saintes comme elle : Sexburge, Witburge et Éthelburge. Un
ardent amour pour Jésus-Christ et pour sa sainte Mère s’empara de ce cœur
simple et droit, et de bonne heure, malgré son désir de passer sa vie dans une
parfaite virginité.
Mariée plus tard par son
père, elle eut le bonheur d’avoir pour époux un prince dont les goûts étaient
les siens et qui vécut avec elle dans la continence. Au bout de trois années de
vie commune, elle se retira, avec la permission de son mari, dans l’île d’Ély,
qui lui avait été donnée pour douaire, et elle y mena pendant cinq ans une vie
véritablement angélique. Pleine de mépris pour tout ce qui flatte la plupart
des hommes, elle faisait consister sa gloire dans la pratique de la pauvreté
volontaire et humiliations ; son plus grand plaisir était de chanter jour et
nuit les louanges du Seigneur.
En vain sainte Édeltrude
cherchait à vivre ignorée, ses vertus perçaient le voile épais de son humilité.
Après la mort du prince son mari, elle fut tellement sollicitée à un nouveau
mariage par le roi de Northumberland, qu’elle finit par y consentir, mais elle
fut aussi heureuse que la première fois, car elle amena son second mari à vivre
avec elle dans une continence parfaite. Nulle sainte peut-être n’a donné un
pareil exemple, et pourtant rien n’est plus authentique.
Le roi l’aimait très tendrement,
et elle-même avait pour lui une affection profonde autant que pure. Cependant
sainte Édeltrude aspirait toujours à la vie cachée ; aussi finit-elle par
obtenir de son royal époux la grâce d’entrer dans un monastère, où elle reçut
le voile et parut aux yeux de ses soeurs comme un modèle de toutes les vertus.
Devenue bientôt Abbesse
et fondatrice de plusieurs monastères, elle se vit bien plus heureusement mère
selon la grâce qu’elle n’eût pu l’être selon la nature.
Elle ne faisait qu’un
repas par jour, excepté les jours de grandes fêtes et quand elle était malade.
Jamais elle ne portait de linge, mais de simples vêtements de laine. Son
oraison était continuelle, et bien qu’elle eût assisté aux offices de la nuit,
elle était toujours en prière avant le lever du jour. Après sept années de
cette vie austère, jeune encore, elle reçut de Dieu la révélation qu’un certain
nombre de ses sœurs mourraient bientôt de la peste et qu’elle-même les
accompagnerait dans l’autre monde.
Elle souffrit avec une
patience héroïque et mourut le 23 juin 679, saint Agathon étant pape,
Constantin IV empereur d’Orient et Thierry III roi des Francs. Son corps fut
trouvé dans un état de merveilleuse conservation plusieurs années après sa
mort.
A
wood engraving of Ely House in London, including St. Etheldreda's chapel, the
only part of the building still standing. Originally produced by William Henry
Prior for the part-work "Old and New London" (1873-1878), based on a
1772 drawing.
Saint
Etheldreda, Ely Place, London EC1
Sainte Etheldrede
Reine de Northumbrie et
Abbesse d’Ely
Fête le 23 juin
Exning, Suffolk, 630 – †
Île d’Ely, Cambridgeshire, 23 juin 679
Autres graphies :
Etheldrede, Etheldreda ou Audrey [Æthelthryth]
Sainte Audrey ou Audry
naquit à Exning, dans le Suffolk, de la famille royale d’Est-Anglie. Étheldrède
était la fille du roi Annas de l’Est-Anglie et sœur des saintes Sexburge,
Éthelburge et Withburge. Elle se maria, mais devenue veuve trois ans après, il
est rapporté que le mariage ne fut jamais consommé. Ayant fait vœu perpétuel de
virginité, elle se remaria avec le jeune Egfrid, fils du roi de Northumbrie ;
quand Egfrid devint adulte, elle refusa de consommer le mariage et fut soutenue
par saint Wilfrid d’York. Elle prit le voile à Coldingham, sous sainte Ebbe
puis se retira à Ely, dans le comté de Cambridgeshire. Elle y fonda un
monastère double pour moines et moniales. Finalement Egfrid se remaria. La
dépouille mortelle d’Étheldrède demeura intacte ; sa main est toujours
conservée à l’église catholique d’Ely. La cathédrale d’Ely occupe le site d’une
abbaye bénédictine fondée en 673 par sainte Etheldreda, reine de Northumbrie
qui, venue s’y retirer du monde, en devint la première abbesse. Ce premier
couvent fut détruit par les Danois en 870.
Sainte Audrey fut l’objet
d’une grande vénération populaire, car elle passait pour guérir les abcès à la
gorge (affection à laquelle elle aurait elle-même succombé). Au Moyen Age, un
festival, « la foire de sainte Audrey » (« St. Audrey’s Fair) se tenait à Ely
le jour de sa fête. Le 17 octobre, fête de l’élévation des reliques intègres
d’Etheldreda, Reine et Abbesse d’Ely.
SOURCE : http://www.martyretsaint.com/etheldrede/
Saint
Etheldreda's statue, Ely Cathedral
Sainte Edeltrude nous
donne une preuve de la possibilité de la sainteté au milieu des grandeurs du
monde et dans l'état du mariage.
Fille d'un roi anglais,
elle eut trois sœurs saintes comme elle : Sexburge, Witburge et Ëthelburge. Un
ardent amour pour JÉSUS-CHRIST et Sa sainte Mère s'empara de ce cœur simple et
droit, et de bonne heure elle conçut le désir de passer sa vie dans une
parfaite virginité.
Mariée plus tard par son
père, elle eut le bonheur d'avoir pour époux un prince dont les goûts étaient
les siens et qui vécut avec elle dans la continence.
Au bout de trois années
de vie commune, elle se retira, avec la permission de son mari, dans l'île
d'Ely, qui lui avait été donnée pour douaire, et elle y mena pendant cinq ans
une vie véritablement angélique. Pleine de mépris pour tout ce qui flatte la
plupart des hommes, elle faisait consister sa gloire dans la pratique de la
pauvreté volontaire et des humiliations; son plus grand plaisir était de
chanter jour et nuit les louanges du SEIGNEUR.
En vain Ëdeltrude
cherchait à vivre ignorée, ses vertus perçaient le voile épais de son humilité.
Après la mort du prince son mari, elle fut tellement sollicitée à un nouveau
mariage par le roi de Northumberland, qu'elle finit par y consentir ; mais elle
fut aussi heureuse que la première fois, car elle amena son second mari à vivre
avec elle dans une continence parfaite.
Nulle sainte peut-être
n'a donné un pareil exemple, et pourtant rien n'est plus authentique. Le roi
l'aimait très tendrement, et elle-même avait pour lui une affection profonde
autant que pure.
Cependant Ëdeltrude
aspirait toujours à la vie cachée ; aussi finit-elle par obtenir de son royal
époux la grâce d'entrer dans un monastère, où elle reçut le voile et parut aux
yens de ses sœurs comme un modèle de toutes les vertus.
Devenue bientôt abbesse
et fondatrice de plusieurs monastères, elle se vit bien plus heureusement mère
selon la grâce qu'elle n'eût pu l'être selon la nature. Elle ne faisait qu'un
repas par jour, excepté les jours de grandes fêtes et quand elle était malade.
Jamais elle ne portait de
linge, mais de simples vêtements de laine. Son oraison était continuelle, et
bien qu'elle eût assisté aux offices de la nuit, elle était toujours en prière
avant le lever du jour.
Après sept années de
cette vie austère, jeune encore, elle reçut de DIEU la révélation qu'un certain
nombre de ses sœurs mourraient bientôt de la peste et qu'elle-même les
accompagnerait dans l'autre monde.
Elle souffrit avec une
patience héroïque et mourut le 23 juin 679. Son corps fut trouvé dans un état
de merveilleuse conservation plusieurs années après sa mort.
Pratique. Rappelez-vous
que la figure de ce monde passe, que c'est folie de s'y attacher, et que vous
n'êtes sur la terre que pour gagner le ciel.
SOURCE : http://je-n-oeucume-guere.blogspot.ca/2011/06/23-juin-sainte-etheldrede-ou-edeltrude.html
Also
known as
Æðelþryð
Æthelthryth
Athelthryth
Audrey
Edeltrude
Edilthride
Ediltrudis
Eteldreda
Ethelreda
Etheldreda
Profile
Sister of Saint Jurmin.
Relative of King Anna
of East
Anglia, England. Princess. Widowed after
three years marriage;
rumor had it that the marriage was
never consumated as Etheldrda had taken a vow of perpetual virginity. She married again
for political reasons. Her new husband knew of her vow, but grew tired of
living as brother and sister, and began to make advances on her; she refused
him. He tried to bribe the local bishop, Saint Wilfrid
of York, to release her from her vow; Wilfrid refused,
and instead helped Audrey escape to a promontory called Colbert’s Head. A high
tide then came in – and stayed high for seven days; it kept her separated from
her husband and was considered divine intervention. The young man gave up; the
marriage was annulled, and Audrey took the veil. She spent a year with her
neice, Saint Ebbe
the Elder. Founded the great abbey of Ely,
where she lived an austere life.
Etheldreda died of
an enormous and unsightly tumor on her neck. She gratefully accepted this as
Divine retribution for all the necklaces she had worn in her early years.
In the Middle Ages, a
festival called Saint Audrey’s
Fair, was held at Ely on
her feast day.
The exceptional shodiness of the merchandise, especially the neckerchiefs,
contributed to the English language the word tawdry, a corruption of Saint Audrey.
Born
c.636
body re-interred in 694;
found incorrupt
body re-interred in
the Cathedral at Ely in 1106;
found incorrupt
abbess holding
a model of Ely Cathedral
abbess with
a crown holding
a staff which
is budding
Additional
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Ramsgate
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MLA
Citation
“Saint Etheldreda“. CatholicSaints.Info.
8 June 2022. Web. 23 June 2023. http://catholicsaints.info/saint-etheldreda/
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/saint-etheldreda/
St. Etheldreda
Queen of Northumbria;
born (probably) about 630; died at Ely, 23 June, 679. While still very young
she was given in marriage by her father, Anna, King of East Anglia, to a
certain Tonbert, a subordinate prince, from whom she received as morning gift a
tract of land locally known as the Isle of Ely. She never lived in wedlock with
Tonbert, however, and for five years after his early death was left to foster
her vocation to religion. Her father then arranged for her a marriage of
political convenience with Egfrid, son and heir to Oswy, King of Northumbria.
From this second bridegroom, who is said to have been only fourteen years of
age, she received certain lands at Hexham; through St. Wilfrid of York she gave
these lands to found the minster of St. Andrew. St. Wilfrid was her friend and
spiritual guide, but it was to him that Egfrid, on succeeding his father,
appealed for the enforcement of his marital rights as against Etheldreda's
religious vocation. The bishop succeeded at first in persuading Egfrid to
consent that Etheldreda should live for some time in peace as a sister of the
Coldingham nunnery, founded by her aunt, St. Ebba, in what is now Berwickshire.
But at last the imminent danger of being forcibly carried off by the king drove
her to wander southwards, with only two women in attendance. They made their
way to Etheldreda's own estate of Ely, not, tradition said, without the
interposition of miracles, and, on a spot hemmed in by morasses and the waters
of the Ouse, the foundation of Ely Minster was begun. This region was
Etheldreda's native home, and her royal East Anglian relatives gave her the material
means necessary for the execution of her holy design. St. Wilfrid had not yet
returned from Rome, where he had obtained extraordinary privileges for her
foundation from Benedict II, when she died of a plague which she herself, it is
said, had circumstantially foretold. Her body was, throughout many succeeding
centuries, an object of devout veneration in the famous church which grew up on
her foundation. (See ANCIENT DIOCESE OF ELY.) One hand of the saint is now
venerated in the church of St. Etheldreda, Ely Place, London, which enjoys the
distinction of being the first—and at present (1909) the only—pre-Reformation
church in Great Britain restored to Catholic worship. Built in the thirteenth
century as a private chapel attached to the town residence of the Bishop of
Ely, the structure of St. Etheldreda's passed through many vicissitudes during
the centuries following its desecration, until, in 1873-74, it was purchased by
Father William Lockhart and occupied by the Institute of Charity, of whose English
mission Father Lockhart was then superior.
Sources
DODD, Church History
of England; SCHRÖDL in Kirchenlex., s.v. Edilthryde; BEDE, Hist.
Eccl., IV—with the historian's Latin poem in her honor; MABILLON, Acta
SS. Ord. Bened.; LOCKHART, S. Etheldreda's and Old London (2nd ed.,
London, 1890).
Macpherson,
Ewan. "St. Etheldreda." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 23 Jun.
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05554b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Robert B. Olson. Offered to
Almighty God for James and Kathy Boyle & Family.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05554b.htm
Église
Sainte-Ediltrude à Tréflez, Finistère.
Photographie : El Funcionario
June 23
St. Etheldreda, or Audry,
Virgin and Abbess
From her life, by Bede,
b. 4, c. 19, 20, and more at large by Thomas, a monk of Ely, in his History
of Ely; in Wharton, Anglia Sacra, p. 597, and Papebroke’s Notes, p. 489,
t. 4, Junij. See also Bradshaw’s life of St. Wereburga, c. 18. Bentham, Hist.
Ely, ed. 1766.
A.D. 679.
ST. ETHELDREDA or
EDILTRUDIS, commonly called Audry, was third daughter of Annas or Anna, the
holy king of the East Angles, and St. Hereswyda. She was younger sister to St.
Sexburga and to St. Ethelburga, who died a virgin and nun in France, and was
eldest sister to St. Withburga. She was born at Ermynge, a famous village in
Suffolk, and brought up in the fear of God. In compliance with the desire of
her friends she married Tonbercht, prince of the southern Girvij; 1 but they
lived together in perpetual continency. Three years after her marriage, and one
year after the death of her father, Audry lost her husband, who for her dowry
settled upon her the isle of Ely. 2 The holy virgin and widow retired into that
solitude, and there lived five years rather like an inhabitant of heaven than
one in a mortal state. Trampling under her feet whatever attracts the hearts of
deluded worldlings, she made poverty and humility her delight and her glory,
and to sing the divine praises with the angels night and day was her most noble
ambition and holy employ. Notwithstanding her endeavours to hide herself from
the world, her virtues pierced the veil which she studied to throw over them,
and shone with a brightness which was redoubled from the lustre which her
humility reflected on them. Egfrid, the powerful king of Northumberland,
hearing the fame of her virtues, by the most earnest suit extorted her consent
to marry him, and she was obliged to engage a second time in that state. The
tradition of the Church, which by her approbation and canons has authorized
this conduct in many saints, is a faithful voucher that a contract of marriage
not yet consummated, deprives not either party of the liberty of prefering the
state of greater perfection. St. Audry, upon this principle, during twelve
years that she reigned with her husband, lived with him as if she had been his
sister, not as his wife, and devoted her time to the exercises of devotion and
charity. At length, having taken the advice of St. Wilfrid, and received from
his hands the religious veil, she withdrew to the monastery of Coldingham
beyond Berwick, and there lived in holy obedience under the devout abbess St.
Ebba. Afterwards, in the year 672, according to Thomas of Ely, she returned to
the isle of Ely, and there founded a double monastery upon her own estate. The
nunnery she governed herself, and was by her example a living rule of
perfection to her sisters. She ate only once a day except on great festivals,
or in time of sickness; never wore any linen but only woollen clothes; never
returned to bed after matins, which were sung at midnight, but continued her
prayers in the church till morning. She rejoiced in pains and humiliations, and
in her last sickness thanked God for being afflicted with a painful red
swelling in her neck, which she regarded as a just chastisement for her vanity,
when in her youth at court she wore rich necklaces studded with brilliants.
After a lingering illness she breathed out her pure soul in profound sentiments
of compunction, on the 23rd of June, 679. She was buried, according to her
directions, in a wooden coffin. Her sister Sexburga, widow of Erconbercht, king
of Kent, succeeded her in the government of her monastery, and caused her body
to be taken up, put into a stone coffin, and translated into the church. On
which occasion it was found uncorrupt, and the same physician who had made a
ghastly incision in her neck a little before her death, was surprised to see the
wound then perfectly healed. Bede testifies that many miracles were wrought by
the devout application of her relics, and the linen cloths that were taken off
her coffin; which is also confirmed by an old Latin hymn by him inserted in his
history. 3
This great queen and
saint set so high a value on the virtue of virginity, because she was
instructed in the school of Christ how precious a jewel and how bright an
ornament that virtue is in his divine eyes, who is the chaste spouse and lover
of true virgins who crown their chastity with a spirit of prayer, sincere
humility, and charity. These souls are without spot before the throne of God;
they are purchased from among men, the first fruits to God and the Lamb, being
the inheritance properly consecrated to God; they sing a new canticle before
the throne, which no others can sing, and they follow the Lamb whithersoever he
goeth. 4 “Whither do you think this Lamb goeth? where no other presumes or is
able to follow him,” cries out St. Austin. 5 “Whither do we think that he
goeth? into what groves or meadows? Where are found joys, not like those of
this world, false, empty, and treacherous; nor even such as are afforded in the
kingdom of God itself to those that are not virgins; but joys distinct from
theirs. The joys of the virgins of Christ are formed of Christ, in Christ,
through Christ, and for Christ. The peculiar joys of the virgins of Christ are
not the same as of those that are not virgins; for, though others have their
joys, none have such.” He adds, 6 “Be solicitous that you lose not this
treasure, which if it be once forfeited nothing can restore. The rest of the
blessed will see you, who are not able themselves so far to follow the Lamb.
They will see you, nor will they envy you; but by rejoicing for your happiness,
they will possess in you what they do not enjoy in themselves. And that new
song which they will not be able to say, they will yet hear, and will be
delighted with your so excellent a good. But you who shall both say it and hear
it, will exult more happily, and reign more joyfully.” 2
Note 1. The Girvij
inhabited the counties of Rutland, Northampton, and Huntingdon, with part of
Lincolnshire, and had their own princes, dependent on the kings of Mercia.
Note 2. So called from
the great quantity of eels in its waters.
Note 3. The monastery of
Ely being destroyed by the Danes in 870, it was refounded by St. Ethelwold,
bishop of Winchester, and King Edgar, for monks only, and dedicated in honour
of the Blessed Virgin and St. Audry, in 970. A bishopric was erected there in
1108.
Note 4. Apoc. xiv.
Note 5. L. de Sanctâ
Virgin, c. 27, t. 6, p. 354.
Note 6. L. de Sanctâ
Virgin, c. 29.
Rev. Alban Butler
(1711–73). Volume VI: June. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/6/231.html
Shrine of Saint Etheldreda, Ely Cathedral
Ely
Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, England.
JUNE 23.—ST. ETHELDREDA,
ABBESS.
BORN and brought up in
the fear of God—her mother and three sisters are numbered among the
Saints—Etheldreda had but one aim in life, to devote herself to His service in
the religious state. Her parents, however, had other views for her, and, in
spite of her tears and prayers, she was compelled to become the wife of
Tonbercht, a tributary of the Mercian king. She lived with him as a virgin for
three years, and at his death retired to the isle of Ely, that she might apply
herself wholly to heavenly things. This happiness was but short-lived; for
Egfrid, the powerful king of Northumbria, pressed his suit upon her with such
eagerness that she was forced into a second marriage. Her life at his court was
that of an ascetic rather than a queen: she lived with him not as a wife, but
as a sister, and, observing a scrupulous regularity of discipline, devoted her
time to works of mercy and love. After twelve years, she retired with her
husband's consent to Coldingham Abbey, which was then under the rule of St.
Ebba, and received the veil from the hands of St. Wilfrid. As soon as
Etheldreda had left the court of her husband, he repented of having consented
to her departure, and followed her, meaning to bring her back by force. She
took refuge on a headland on the coast near Coldingham; and here a miracle took
place, for the waters forced themselves a passage round the hill, barring the
further advance of Egfrid. The Saint remained in this island refuge for seven
days, till the king, recognizing the divine will, agreed to leave her in peace.
God, who by a miracle confirmed the Saint's vocation, will not fail us if, with
a single heart, we elect for Him. In 672 she returned to Ely, and founded there
a double monastery. The nunnery she governed herself, and was by her example a
living rule of perfection to her sisters. Some time after her death, in 679,
her body was found incorrupt, and St. Bede records many miracles worked by her
relics.
REFLECTION.—The soul
cannot truly serve God while it is involved in the distractions and pleasures
of the world. Etheldreda knew this, and chose rather to be a servant of Christ
her Lord than the mistress of an earthly court. Resolve, in whatever state you
are, to live absolutely detached from the world, and to separate yourself as
much as possible from it.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER: Ask
Saint Etheldreda to intercede to God for your needs today.
SOURCE : http://jesus-passion.com/Saint_Etheldreda.htm
St. Ethelreda
Around 640, there was an
English princess named Ethelreda, but she was known as Audrey. She married
once, but was widowed after three years, and it was said that the marriage was
never consummated. She had taken a perpetual vow of virginity, but married again,
this time for reasons of state. Her young husband soon grew tired of living as
brother and sister and began to make advances on her. She continually refused.
He eventually attempted to bribe the local bishop, Saint Wilfrid of York, to
release Audrey from her vows.
Saint Wilfrid refused,
and helped Audrey escape. She fled south, with her husband following. They
reached a promontory known as Colbert’s Head, where a heaven sent seven day
high tide separated the two. Eventually, Audrey’s husband left and married
someone more willing, while Audrey took the veil, and founded the great abbey
of Ely, where she lived an austere life. She eventually died of an enormous and
unsightly tumor on her neck, which she gratefully accepted as Divine
retribution for all the necklaces she had worn in her early years. Throughout
the Middle Ages, a festival, “St. Audrey’s Fair”, was held at Ely on her feast
day. The exceptional shodiness of the merchandise, especially the neckerchiefs,
contributed to the English language the word “tawdry”, a corruption of “Saint
Audrey.”
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/st-ethelreda/
.jpg)
Saint
Ethelreda St Albans Cathedral
Etheldreda (Æthelthryth,
Ediltrudis, Audrey) (d.679), queen, foundress and abbess of Ely. She was the
daughter of Anna, king of East Anglia, and was born, probably, at Exning, near
Newmarket in Suffolk. At an early age she was married (c.652) to Tondberht,
ealdorman of the South Gyrwas, but she remained a virgin. On his death, c.655,
she retired to the Isle of Ely, her dowry. In 660, for political reasons, she
was married to Egfrith, the young king of Northumbria who was then only 15
years old, and several years younger than her. He agreed that she should remain
a virgin, as in her previous marriage, but 12 years later he wished their
marital relationship to be normal. Etheldreda, advised and aided by Wilfred,
bishop of Northumbria, refused. Egfrith offered bribes in vain. Etheldreda left
him and became a nun at Coldingham under her aunt Ebbe (672) and founded a
double monastery at Ely in 673. (from FARMER, David: The Oxford Dictionary of
Saints, 3rd ed. OUP, 1992.)
Etheldreda restored an
old church at Ely, reputedly destroyed by Penda, pagan king of the Mercians,
and built her monastery on the site of what is now Ely Cathedral. After its
restoration in 970 by Ethelwold it became the richest abbey in England except
for Glastonbury.
Etheldreda's monastery
flourished for 200 years until it was destroyed by the Danes. It was refounded
as a Benedictine community in 970.
Etheldreda died c.680
from a tumour on the neck, reputedly as a divine punishment for her vanity in
wearing necklaces in her younger days; in reality it was the result of the
plague which also killed several of her nuns, many of whom were her sisters or
nieces. At St Audrey's Fair necklaces of silk and lace were sold, often of very
inferior quality, hence the derivation of the word tawdry from St Audrey.
17 years after her death
her body was found to be incorrupt: Wilfred and her physician Cynefrid were
among the witnesses. The tumour on her neck, cut by her doctor, was found to be
healed. The linen cloths in which her body was wrapped were as fresh as the day
she had been buried. Her body was placed in a stone sarcophagus of Roman
origin, found at Grantchester and reburied.
For centuries,
Etheldreda's shrine was the focus for vast numbers of medieval pilgrims.
It was destroyed in 1541,
but a slate in the Cathedral marks the spot where it stood, and the 23 June and
17 October are still kept as major festivals in the Cathedral. Some relics are
alleged to be in St Etheldreda's Church, Ely Place, London (where the bishops
of Ely formerly had their London residence). Her hand, which was discovered in
a recusant hiding place near Arundel in 1811, is claimed by St Etheldreda's
Roman Catholic church at Ely.
Eternal God,
who bestowed such grace
upon your servant Etheldreda
that she gave herself
wholly to the life of prayer
and to the service of
your true religion:
grant that we, like her,
may so live our lives on
earth seeking your kingdom
that by your guiding
we may be joined to the
glorious fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Work on the present
Cathedral began in the 11th century under the leadership of Abbot Simeon, and
the monastic church became a cathedral in 1109 with the Diocese of Ely being
carved out of the Diocese of Lincoln. The monastery at Ely was dissolved by Henry
VIII in 1539. Ely suffered less than many other monasteries, but even so,
statues were destroyed together with carvings and stained glass. St
Etheldreda's Shrine was destroyed.
The Cathedral was
refounded with a Chapter of eight canons in 1541 as was the Kings School.
Robert Steward, the last
Prior of the monastery, became the first Dean.
The first major
restoration took place in the 18th Century under James Essex. With the arrival
of Dean George Peacock in 1839 a second restoration project began. Together
with the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott, he restored the building to its
former glory.
A third major restoration
project, the most extensive to date, was begun in 1986 and was completed in the
year 2000.
The Etheldreda Banner was
made by Miss Yams of Bayswater in 1910 and is still used today during great
processions at Ely Cathedral. It depicts Saint Etheldreda with a crosier as
first Abbess of Ely, and around her, are the coats of arms of the See (top
left), the University of Cambridge (bottom left), the Dean and Chapter of Ely
(top right), and the Borough (now City) of Cambridge (bottom right); the arms
at the top are those of Frederick Henry Chase, Bishop of Ely 1905-1924.
THE ELY SEQUENCE or 'The
Story of Etheldreda' is sung at Ely on her feast days, 23 June and 17 October
1. Now, our hymn to God
upraising,
Sing we of a queen's
amazing
Lowliness of mind, today;
Who her royal state
rejected
And, impelled by love,
elected
In Christ's holy rule to
stay.
2. See-as men her way
impedeth,
As she follows where God
leadeth,
Lo, her staff breaks out
in flower.
Far aside all hindrance
thrusting,
Loving God, Him only
trusting,
She is strengthened in
that hour .
2. See, the flood the
saint protecteth;
God the plans of men
correcteth;
She is safe from strife
at last.
Bound to prayer for man's
salvation
And to daily adoration,
To her Lord alone held
fast.
4. So, by God to Ely
called,
o'er His virgin flock
installed
Mother, by Saint
Wilfrid's hand;
Now, through work and
word, she teacheth
Of the blessed way that
reacheth
Unto life's eternal land.
3. Ely's shrine of
wondrous beauty,
Kept by men of faith and
duty
Through long years of
change and strife,
Still is here to tell the
story
Of how grace leads on to
glory
And to everlasting life.
6. Etheldreda's holy
living
Urgeth us to heartfelt
giving
Of ourselves to God
today.
May her prayers, for us
ascending,
Gain us joys that know no
ending
With the saints on high
for aye.
Amen.
Alleluya.
SOURCE : http://www.elycathedral.org/history/the_story_cathedral.html
An
illustration of a painted mediaeval panel, from https://archive.org/details/shrinesofbritish00wall Plate
16 opposite page 56 in 'Shrines of British Saints', by James Charles Wall
(1905)
Etheldreda, OSB Widow (RM)
(also known as Audrey, Æthelthryth, Ethelreda, Edilthride, Ediltrudis,
Edeltrude)
Born in Exning, Suffolk, England; died at Ely, 679.
"Now Etheldreda shines upon our days, Shedding the light of grace on all
our ways. Born of a noble and a royal line, She brings to Christ her King a
life more fine." --The Venerable Bede
To her friends and family, this once most famous female Anglo-Saxon saint was
Etheldreda. To poor people she was Audrey, and the word "tawdry"
originally came from the cheap necklaces that were sold on the feast of Saint
Audrey and which were believed to cure illness of the throat and neck. This was
because Etheldreda had suffered from neck cancer, which she attributed to
divine punishment because she was once vain enough to wear a costly necklace.
She had a huge tumor on her neck when she died, but, according the Saint Bede,
when her tomb was opened by her sister Saint Sexburga, her successor as abbess
at Ely Abbey, ten (or 16) years after her death, her body was found incorrupt
and the tumor had healed. Etheldreda was a woman of noble birth, the daughter
of King Anna of East Anglia, and sister to Saints Sexburga, Ethelburga,
Erconwald, and Withburga. She was born in a time when the religious were
uncompromising in their desire for complete conversion of their lives to God.
To Etheldreda prayer, the Blessed Sacrament, and works of mercy were essential
features of her faith in Jesus Christ. From her youth she devoted herself to
piety, purity, and humility. Though she seemed destined for the cloistered
life, twice Saint Etheldreda was married and released from these unwelcome ties
At the age of 14, Etheldreda was married to Tonbert. Now some saints have run
away from marriage when they felt called to the vowed religious life, but
Etheldreda trusted in God. She accepted the wedding calmly and found that
Tonbert was equally devout and was happy that they should live in continence.
After three (or five) years together, Tonbert died.
For a time she enjoyed the solitude of the island of Ely, which had been part
of her dowry, but for reasons of state she married again. Her second husband,
Egfrid, son of King Oswy of Northumbria, was just a boy at the time.
Etheldreda, though still young herself, treated him as her son or brother,
rather than as a husband. She taught him the catechism and directed his
spiritual growth, clearly trying to prepare him to accept a marriage of
continence.
But after 12 years of this relationship, Egfrid, grown to manhood, tried to
make her his wife in fact as well as in name. This alarmed Etheldreda, who then
sought the counsel of Archbishop Saint Wilfrid of York. He released her from
her marriage and advised her to withdraw to the Benedictine abbey of
Coldingham. At last she was able to fulfill her heart's desire. She took the
veil at Coldingham under Saint Ebba.
At first Egfrid tried to persuade Wilfrid to order his wife to return to him,
but without success. In 672, she founded a double monastery, where the present
Ely Cathedral now stands, and ruled it as abbess. Egfrid dispatched armed men
to Ely in an attempt to force her to return, but the expedition was
unsuccessful.
From the time founded Ely, Etheldreda ceased to wear clothing of fine linen and
dressed only in woolen garments. Except at Easter, Pentecost, and Epiphany, she
washed only in cold water. Only when she was ill or on great church festivals
did she eat more than one meal a day. She prayed for those who did not pray and
often kept vigil in the church from midnight until dawn. Seven years after the
foundation of Ely Abbey, she died of the plague.
Saint Bede wrote a long hymn in praise of Etheldreda who, judging from the
number of churches dedicated to her and calendars containing her name, must
have been the most revered of all Anglo- Saxon women saints. This is partly due
to the number of miracles that resulted from her intercession, which made Ely
an important pilgrimage site (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia).
In art, St. Etheldreda is
crowned, holding a crozier, book, and a budding staff. Sometimes she may be
pictured (1) asleep under a blossoming tree; (2) with a book and lily; (3) as a
fountain springs at her feet; and (4) as the devil flees from her (Roeder).
There is a 20th- century English banner with her image on the University of
Pennsylvania homepage. Etheldreda is the patroness of Cambridge University
(Roeder), and those suffering from throat and neck ailments (Bentley).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0623.shtml
Saint Æthelthryth of Ely,
the Benedictional of St. Æthelwold,
illuminated manuscript in the British Library
Sant' Eteldreda di Ely Regina
di Northumbria e Badessa
† Ely, Inghilterra, 679
Emblema: Collana,
Due daine, Corona
Martirologio
Romano: Nel monastero di Ely nell’Inghilterra orientale, santa Edeltrude,
badessa: figlia del re e lei stessa regina di Northumbria, rifiutate per due
volte le nozze, ricevette dal santo presule Vilfrido il velo monacale nel
monastero da lei stessa fondato e che, divenuta madre di moltissime vergini,
resse con il suo esempio e con i suoi consigli.
Eteldreda (lat. Ediltrudis;
ingl. Audrey), figlia di Anna, re degli Angli orientali, e sorella delle sante
Sesburga, Etelburga e Withburga, nacque a Exning nel Suffolk. La sua vita
si svolse in gran parte della seconda metà del sec. VII, quando massimo era il
fervore degli Angli, recentemente convertiti.
Secondo il desiderio dei
genitori, ella andò sposa al principe di Gyrvii, Tonbert, col quale tuttavia
visse in perpetua continenza. Tre anni dopo il matrimonio, rimasta vedova, si
ritirò nell’isola di Ely, che aveva ricevuto dal marito come dono di nozze, ed
ivi per cinque anni condusse vita solitaria, trascorrendo in preghiera la
maggior parte del suo tempo. Richiesta in matrimonio da Egfrido, il più giovane
dei figli di Oswy, re di Northumbria, cedette a condizione che il giovane
marito, appena un ragazzo, si impegnasse a rispettare la sua verginità. Questi
accettò, ma in prosieguo di tempo, pentitosi, chiese al santo vescovo Wilfrìd
di scioglierlo da quella che poteva essere stata una promessa sconsiderata.
Dopo un periodo di contrasti, dietro consiglio di Wilfrid, Eteldreda si ritirò
nel monastero di Coldingham, dove ricevette il velo dalla zia di Egfrido, s.
Ebba. Terminato il noviziato, si ritirò nuovamente a Ely, fondandovi un doppio
monastero, che governò fino alla morte, avvenuta nel 679.
La sua tomba, nella
cattedrale di Ely, fu meta di pellegrinaggi fino alla Riforma. La santa era
particolarmente invocata per i mali di gola e del collo: le collane acquistate
nei pressi del suo santuario, chiamate Tawdry (abbreviazione di St. Audry),
erano portate dai sofferenti di tali mali.
La sua festa è celebrata
il 23 giugno.
Autore: John Stephan
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/59150
Voir aussi : http://catholiquepratiquant.forumactif.com/t2792-ste-audrey-ou-etheldrede
